ANOTHER PAPER DOLL PAGEWelcome to my SECOND CHILDHOOD .... and your chance to slide back with me in time to recapture the fun we had when we were kids ... back to when comics cost a dime and ice cream wasn't fattening and and summer vacations seemed to last forever. I attempt to stop the clock by collecting the favourite toys of my childhood -- PAPER DOLLS -- but I might eventually try to make room for some other odds and ends as this site develops. It takes a while to load; there are lots of pics. But if you're here, you'd rather LOOK at paper dolls than read about them, so I think the loading will be worth your wait. I'll show you some of my favourite paper dolls and there will be a spot where you can post your own "mysteries" to see if somebody can identify them for you. To get around ... click on the squares of the hop-scotch board below (remember warm spring evenings when we used to draw hop-scotch squares on the cement sidewalk with a filched piece of chalk and play until the sun went down???) And any time you see a thumbnail pic with a blue border, click on it to get a bigger, much better view (resolution is pretty good on the bigger pics, if I do say so myself) ... then use your "back" button to return to where you were.
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| OKLAHOMA | DEBRA PAGET | ELAINE STEWART | CORONATION | VERA MILES |
These are the Paper Dolls that I loved best .... I played with them by the hour, acting out stories and movie plots and designing extra clothes for them. I protected them from my marauding little sister and my thieving best friends. I protested long and loud when my parents decided I was too old for paper dolls (they were right, I WAS still playing with them in the closet after ALL my high school friends had outgrown them!!) But I finally gave them up ... and they were awarded to the marauding sister ... and it has taken me YEARS to re-assemble these favourites. Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
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KATY
KEENE |
GLORIA
GRANDBILT |
ERROL
SWOON |
I was torn between putting Katy with the favourites or giving her a category of her own ... and finally decided she deserved her own rightful place. When the Katy comics came in (6 times a year), every little girl in the small town where I lived was lined up outside the little drugstore where they were sold, and usually there weren't quite enough to go around. We started attempting to "reserve" copies and trying to pay in advance to guarantee a score!!! (Any wonder the poor old druggist was grey-haired and worried-looking .... he had thirty or forty angry, pushy little girls lined up at his door on "Katy" Day, and then he always had a few in tears when the dust settled). When we did get our hands on those precious Katy comics, they didn't last 10 minutes before we went at them with scissors. And we didn't just cut out the "official" paper doll pages ..... we combed the story pages and pin-up pages for clothes that might fit Katy or her gang. I remember wheedling an American dime out of my mother so I could send away to Woggon Wheels Ranch for the "real" Katy cut-outs .... and when they came, the dolls were wonderful, but the clothes were in black and white (and I was NEVER into colouring!!!) I remember being quite disappointed, although now I find myself collecting those same uncoloured sheets, along with every Katy Comic I can find (especially the Annuals and Fashion Parades ... the BIG issues that cost a quarter and were LOADED with paper dolls!!!) So I've shown you some of the comic-book paper dolls as well as some of the ten-cent sheets and their dolls. Remember all the Katy characters: Katy Keene, Gloria Grandbilt, Errol Swoon, K.O. Kelly, Sis and Billy, Bertha Bumples and Chubby, Randy Van Ronson, Tammy and Danny, Lucki Red Lorelei, Curly Cassidy, and Debbie. Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
Millie and Patsy were popular, but not as high on my list as Katy Keene. Both of these came as paper doll pages in comic books, too, but you couldn't send away for "stuff", and the clothes weren't as pretty (in MY humble opinion), and the characters just weren't as interesting. Millie and her arch-rival Chili were models ..... Patsy and her arch-rival Hedy (anybody smell a formula??) were high school girls. But I find myself unable now, in my SECOND CHILDHOOD, to pass up a Millie or Patsy comic if the paper dolls are intact. Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
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| 1948 | 1951 | 1953 | 1955 | 1956 |
In Canada, Jane Arden was a feature in the Star Weekly Saturday "funnies" ... there was always a doll and a dress in every issue ... and the marauding sister and I fought bitterly over who would "get" the Jane Arden paper doll each week. We finally partially solved the problem by arranging to have the grand-parents save their Star Weekly copies, too (when they remembered or didn't use them to wrap fish) ... but sometimes it was MONTHS between visits to the grandparents to see what had been collected. (Marauding sister now, of course, claims to NOT remember any of this ... a likely story!!) It's interesting to see how Jane's hair, pose, and clothes changed over the years between 1948 and 1956. Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
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| JUNE ALLYSON | JANE POWELL | BETTY GRABLE | DORIS DAY |
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| DINAH SHORE | ELIZABETH TAYLOR | JANE POWELL | JANET LEIGH |
Some of these could be on my "favourites" list too -- it was really hard to choose. I've been busily acquiring "movie" stars ever since I started to collect. When it all started out, I wanted only the ones I had owned as a kid: Doris Day, June Allyson, Liz Taylor, and Ann Blyth. But I quickly realized there were seven DIFFERENT Liz Taylor sets and a whole bunch of June Allysons and a plethora of Doris Days .... not to mention some more that I've just HAD to have. Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
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Polly Bergen | |
Janet Leigh | |
Jane Russell |
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Marilyn Monroe | |
Rock Hudson | |
Ava Gardner |
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Debbie Reynolds | |
Jane Powell 1 | |
Piper Laurie |
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Jane Powell 2 | |
Rhonda Fleming | |
Dinah Shore 1 |
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Dinah Shore 2 | |
McGuire Sisters | |
Elaine Srewart (Dell) |
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Doris Day | |
Rosemary Clooney | |
June Allyson 1 |
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June Allyson 2 | |
Kim Novak | |
Marge & Gower Champion |
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| BOB HOPE &
DOROTHY LAMOUR |
ALICE
FAYE |
DEANNA
DURBIN |
EVE
ARDEN |
And I found myself "needing" sets that were a little "before" my time so we've had to include a "forties" (and very early 50's) movie star category. A lot of these stars were still famous and glamourous in the mid-50's when I started to play with paperdolls, and I owned many of their "later" sets, but as a kid, I didn't own these particular sets. I wish that I had (and I'm making up for it now)!! Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
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Ann Sheridan | |
Ann Sothern (early) | |
Betty Grable (early) |
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Ava Gardner (the first one) | |
Carmen Miranda | |
Hedy Lamarr |
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Judy Holiday | |
Eve Arden | |
Rita Hayworth |
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Joan Caulfield | |
Margaret O'Brien | |
Liz Taylor (the earliest) |
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Greer Garson | |
Sonja Henie | |
Bette Davis |
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Gene Tierney | |
Esther Williams | |
Linda Darnell (& Tyrone Power) |
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Lucille Ball | |
Claudette Colbert | |
Bob Hope & Dorothy Lamour |
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The Dionne Quints |
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| LITTLE BALLERINA | PINK WEDDING | BIG'N'LITTLE SISTERS | MILITARY WEDDING |
And much as I loved my glamourous movie stars, no collection would be complete without some civilians, teen sets like Teen Town, children (like Polly and Her Playmates up in MY FAVOURITES) and adults (like Career Girls, in MY FAVOURITES) and the mixed sets (like all the "SISTERS" pictured above). And I might eventually have to add a category for non-celebrity wedding sets ... there are thousands out there, and I find myself rescuing stray brides and grooms every time I run across them. For the moment, though, I'm going to leave all these engaged couples and their wedding parties in with the non-celebs! Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
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Golden Girl | |
Juke Box | |
Bonnie Bows |
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Merry Teens | |
Airline Stewardesses | |
Boarding School |
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The Two Marys | |
Baby Dolls | |
Teen Town |
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Junior Misses | |
Teen Time | |
Hi Gals |
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Bridal Party | |
Happy Bride | |
Military Wedding |
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Pink Wedding | |
A Heavenly Blue Wedding | |
Little Ballerina |
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| ANNIE
OAKLEY |
ANNETTE
FUNICELLO |
PETTICOAT
JUNCTION |
FAMILY
AFFAIR |
A few of these TV stars were famous when I was still a kid (we got TV when I was twelve). But somehow I ended up acquiring stuff that was "after" my time, too. So I've included, in this category, TV paper doll sets from my own childhood, TV paper doll sets from after I was "grown-up" (I had a child of my own by the time Oliver dragged Lisa out to Hooterville), some of the younger set movie stars, and some cut-outs of characters from fiction and the funny papers. Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
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Donna Reed | |
Annie Oakley | |
Faye Emerson |
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That Girl | |
Ricky Nelson | |
Gisele MacKenzie |
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Gigi Perreau | |
Gale Storm | |
Mary Hartline |
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Annette Funicello | |
Dorothy Provine | |
Sandra Dee |
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Tuesday Weld | |
The Beverly Hillbillies | |
Lil Abner |
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Little Women | |
Pat Boone | |
Patty Duke |
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Dr. Kildare | |
Connie Francis | |
Mary Poppins |
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Natalie Wood | |
Roy Rogers & Dale Evans | |
The Nurses |
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Green Acres | |
Family Affair | |
Petticoat Junction |
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Dagwood and Blondie |
At the moment, my ebay store is closed (maybe temporarily), but I'm selling under the name "mompays" at the BidVille auction site. To get there, just go to www.bidville.com and seach for me and my stuff (or click on the BidVille link at the bottom of this page). And BidVille HAS a paperdoll category, so please take a look. If BidVille becomes my permanent auction home, I'll redo this whole section -- but for now, I'll just leave the links and the text as it was originally written for ebay. To see some of the things (paperdolls and other collectable stuff) that I have up on ebay (or am thinking of putting up on ebay), you need to scroll down to either the "MY EBAY STORE" posting or the "CHECK IT OUT" posting in the links area at the bottom of the page. For now, I've decided that this page is pokey enough, so I won't burden it with those extra pics. But do visit my store or "check it out" ... you never know what you might find??? I don't always have paperdolls for sale -- but you might get lucky? And there's a link at "CHECK IT OUT" to get back here or get over to the ebay paperdoll category.
This is the spot to scan a pic of paper dolls (both celebrities and non-celebrities) you have and can't identify. Try to keep your scans smallish ... we only have so much space. I'll help if I can, and I'm sure we have readers who remember your "puzzlers" or who have good reference books and are willing to flip through them. The first three little mysteries have now been solved -- so please send more (and make sure the subject line indicates a mystery -- otherwise I might think your letter is spam) -- and I still need an answer for the 4th mystery?? Click HERE to e-mail me with your mysteries. Back to the HOPSCOTCH board.
SOLVED Mystery # 1: these girls look almost exactly alike except for the hair colour. They came with lots of stylish late 50's maybe early 60's clothes ... and somebody got scissor-happy and made minis out of some of their ourfits. Could they be Barbies???? Since I'm not a Barbie collector, I have no idea. -- Answer -- They're from a 60's Watkins Strathmore Tammy set. And thanks to the many visitors who answered this question.
SOLVED Mystery # 2: this is "Jimmy" (name on clothes tabs). He's 4.5" tall and he came with a few little outfits and a few little toys (a Noah's Ark among them). And a dress in the mix says "Judy" on the tab. Does anybody recognize him???? Answer -- Jimmy appeared in several different Saalfield sets -- the first was set #885, in 1932, with his head slightly turned -- and then he appeared as shown here in 1940 (set #154), and again in 1942 (set #274). Thanks to Merlin for his very comprehensive answer!!!!
SOLVED Mystery # 3: this is "Herb" (name on gym shorts) and his girlfriend Mary Jane (name on clothes tabs).... the owner of this mystery thinks it's a Merrill 40's set, and I agree. Click on the pic to see a bigger version. Can anybody help??? Answer - it turns out that these two aren't really a couple, although they are both from Merrill 40's sets (owner and I both had good instincts) -- but Herb is from "High School", and Mary Jane is from "Soldiers and Sailors" (and she's TOO old for him!!)
UNSOLVED Mystery # 4: these three young ladies are named Rita, Betty, and Rosalind (click on pic for a larger view, and then use your back button to come back to this spot) -- and I have NO idea who they are, or which company published them -- and I can't find them in any of the reference books. Quite a few people have been trying to solve this one, and we're ALL drawing blanks???
And no paper doll page would be complete without some links to other great paper doll sites on the web (don't look now, but I think there are lots of us enjoying a SECOND CHILDHOOD):
